In Your Blood
by Mountain King
Summary: Set several weeks after War of Kings. Dawn's destiny is changed due to a horrible attack. In the aftermath the gang learn ancient truths that means things will never be the same again. Not for Dawn, Buffy, or Methos
1. Chapter 1

In Your Blood

Authors introduction:-

The second story I ever wrote was a Highlander Buffy crossover. More than ten years ago. I never finished it. Not because I didn't want to, but it just wasn't working. I tried to write it again as a REDUX, my personal description when completely re-writing a story from the very start, not just tweaking it on a second draft. Again it didn't work, there were too many problems with the character and the story wasn't unfolding the way it should.

Highlander has always been one of those universes I love, but never had any luck writing for. Next to Terminator it's caused me the most trouble when trying to crossover with anything. Especially Buffy.

However, I have always come back to it. Time and time again. There's something about the idea I can't let go and introducing it into other universes opens so many possibilities I just can't leave it alone.

A few months ago I went back to that long abandoned second story and retooled it once again. Throwing out a lot of the extraneous nonsense I worked on it some more and the result was War of Kings. A fun one off that just bounced along in the writing process. Everything sort of worked for me there, as my fellow writers will know sometimes everything just clicks and the story writes itself. The things holding me back all those years ago vanished.

I enjoyed it so much I decided to try and write a sequel. Here it is. Enjoy.

* * *

Disclaimer:-

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and related characters was created by Joss Whedon and is owned by Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox

Highlander (the TV series) and related characters was created by Peter Davis and Bill Panzer and is owned by Gaumont Television

* * *

Chapter One

It was dark, so dark that you couldn't begin to describe it.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

There was no light, no sound. Nothing. An absolute nothing.

You couldn't even feel. Not hot nor cold, hard or soft. Not even a heartbeat. Just an all encompassing numbness. The total silence was oppressive in this empty black abyss.

There was no time here, no before or after. Just the endless now. Memories of before were a vague blur of unfamiliar thoughts and half formed ideas.

No sense of self was left to them.

They simply existed in this nothing

Then all that changed. In an instant there was a horrible cracking noise. With a shock Dawn was suddenly awake. Like the firing of a starters gun she was back. The night mare was over.

The sound that woke her had been loud, so loud she had felt it.

She might not be gone anymore but she had no idea where she was or what happened. She tried screaming but the only sound she made was a dry squeak. Gasping for air Dawn realised there was something over her face and mouth. Covering her, trapping her

Confused and desperate she struggled against it. Clawing at whatever it was, but she could only just move her arms. She kept banging into something, hard. What ever it was rang like a bell. Dawn tied to kick her legs free, but they too were wrapped up and bouncing off metal.

Wherever she was it was pitch black, cold, and terrifying like nothing she'd ever felt before. Eventually she tore enough of it from her face. Finally gasping for air she found it stale and thin, but breathing was breathing.

It meant she was alive, and not that other thing. For how long that was going to last she had no idea.

The only thing she knew for certain right there and then was that she was trapped. Locked in a box no bigger than herself.

Banging around Dawn fought against the situation, Her screams were still weak but if she could get someone, any one to hear her they would set her free. They had to, right?

She had almost given up hope when, as if from nowhere, there was light. She felt two hands grab her legs and pull. With a squeak Dawn fell out of wherever she was into the blue tinted freedom. Her arms finally, truly, free she could tear free of the cloth covering her. Kicking out at the hands they let go of her.

Gasping for fresh air she felt like a fish thrown back into the water. After a few gulping breaths Dawn finally looked around.

She'd been in what had to be giant metal box. There was a wall full of them in a room with hideous off green walls and harsh neon lights overhead. Dawn was no dummy and knew exactly what it looked like, but her mind rebelled at the idea. She swallowed, her heart beat pounding against her ribs and a deafening buzz loud in her ears. Somehow she knew she wasn't alone, even though she hadn't seen anyone else yet.

'Hello again.' A half familiar English voice said from off to one side.

Speechless Dawn pulled what was left of the flimsy sheet closer around herself, suddenly realising she wasn't exactly dressed and around a virtual stranger.

It was that other Immortal, the one that had killed Buffy's boyfriend. He was carefully looking up and to the left. Not at her exactly, but close enough. 'I was never really an officer, but I was a gentleman. More than once actually.' He admitted. Still not even glancing at her he threw a bag she barely caught. 'You might want to put those on. I… Recovered them when no one was looking.'

Looking inside and seeing her clothes from what had to be the previous night Dawn stammered; 'How… How did…?' her voice was still dry, but already sounded better. At least to her.

'Luck. Blind chance.' He shrugged. 'Or I could have been following you for the last couple of weeks.'

'My own private stalker?' She shot back. Swallowing painfully. 'Why?'

'I would of thought that was obvious by now. Come on and get dressed. You'll be surprised how often people do actually check on morgues.'

It took Dawn a couple of minutes to get dressed under the blanket. Sure her hair was a mess, she had next to no makeup and the less said about what she'd left in the bag the better. 'Did you do this to me?' She asked after a moment.

Adam was checking the door. 'No.' He said and Dawn almost believed him. He finally turned to look at her. 'What do you remember?' They asked her, something dangerous behind his eyes.

Frowning she looked down at herself and back up. 'I… I don't.' She admitted, coming up with nothing. No answers. She drew a complete blank when a sudden thought came to her. 'Oh my god, Buffy! Where's my sister?'

'With the authorities I should imagine. Trying to come up with a story that they'll accept. She needn't bother, Rome's an old city. It's used to the occasional unexplained murder.'

'Yeah, because that makes things all better.' Dawn snarked back, already feeling better. 'Seriously though, were you following me?'

Adam rolled his eyes. 'Yes, and before you give me some long winded reason why that's a bad idea can I point out now that you're alive, again, we should get out of here. Unless you want to try explain things.'

'I wouldn't know how.' Dawn pointed out, matching the attitude he was giving her. 'Not until, I don't know, you tell me!'

'Then let's find somewhere a little more convenient, shall we? Where we're not going to be arrested ourselves.' He gave her another minute to pull her shoes on and the pair of them sneaked out.

Adam was good at sneaking, he had to be. Hiding out in the same city as the Slayer that wanted to rip your head off? Sneaking was kind of a prerequisite. Dawn followed as closely as she dared, all the while her mind racing. Trying to remember what happened was like exploring a toothache. Painful and getting her nowhere. The best she could manage was going somewhere without Buffy. An argument. A big fight. Something nasty with breath that could melt steel and people screaming her name. Then darkness.

Shuddering she looked back to Adam who was waving her to a fire exit. She'd met her rescuer slash stalker slash former kidnapper maybe a month or so earlier. While Buffy was dating the then still alive Immortal. It turned out the charming thousand or so year old Italian wasn't the only one of his kind like he claimed. And that the others ran around chopping each others heads off.

Adam, if that was his name 'cause who knew with these people, was another one. The Immortal had done some pretty nasty things to a girl he'd adopted at the turn of the last century. Reading up on what had happened almost made Dawn sick. When she found some evidence it wasn't some sob story the man had invented she had been.

Of course, even if Dawn had told Buffy her former boyfriend was a murdering rapist there was little chance her headstrong sister would believe it. Dawn stopped at what looked to be a service entrance that lead on to the sun drenched street. Adam stepped out into the daylight, 'What's wrong?' He asked urgently.

'I… I can't go out there.' She admitted.

'What?'

Dawn shook her head. 'I died right? I mean I was dead?' She dreaded the answer.

'For about six hours.' He told her like it was the most normal thing in the world. 'Why?'

Taking a breath Dawn looked at the daylight again. 'If I'm back it's because…'

'You're Immortal, not a vampire.' Adam told her with a shake of his own head before making sure he was standing fully in the sunlight. 'I can prove it. Give me your hand.'

Nervously Dawn reached out and took his hand. The morning sun was warm, but not burning like she expected. After a tense moment she stepped out into the alley herself.

Adam was still smirking at her. 'Hey, I've never exactly died before. Okay?' She snarked at him.

He just laughed back.

* * *

Buffy was, to put it mildly, pissed. She was going start killing things soon. All night she'd been cooped up in the police station trying to come up with something to explain what had happened. She didn't even know the full story and was angry with herself for sending Andrew away.

It didn't help that while she had gotten quite good at ordering coffee her Italian was pretty much limited to asking if the seat was taken and if she could get that to go.

Thankfully one of the officers, who knew a little English, was able to get a translator. Buffy had enough time to come up with something they'd believe. A mugging gone wrong. She didn't expect it to hold up, not everyone was a incompetent as the good old Sunnydale Police. To make it sound more believable Buffy gave an exaggerated description of a vampire she took out the night before. A big guy, more neck than brains. She might have gone a little overboard with the whole thing, but between her, the translator and the old fashioned sketch artist it actually looked right.

Buffy was explaining what had supposedly happened for what felt like the thousandth time, while looking at the sketch, when there was a commotion over with some of the officers. She picked up a few hushed words with her Slayer hearing. Recognising just enough to know they were talking about her.

'What's that about?' She asked the Officer that knew English, fixing them with a glare. After a moment or two they folded and muttered something.

The translator wasn't anymore immune and they told her that Dawn's body had gone missing!

* * *

Dawn checked her shadow again. Yep, still there and she was still not on fire, so Vampire was off the table.

Now outside she could finally start to collect her thoughts. She still couldn't remember the last night, but she was beginning to think a little clearer. The first problem was she still didn't trust this guy, but was in no shape to run or to fight him off. 'My phone? Did you pick it up too or…'

Adam shook his head. 'I'd think your sister has it by now. Why?'

'I… I need to call her.' Dawn struggled with the words. What could you say in this situation? 'Tell her that I'm… I'm back.'

He spun on her; 'You're joking, right? You want to call your sister and then what? "Oh, Hi there, not dead. Long story, talk to you later. Bye"?'

Dawn fumed at his sarcasm. 'It wouldn't be the first time. Come on, my sister's the Slayer. Do you really think this is the strangest thing to happen in our, in my life?'

'So you've died before?' He looked at her strangely.

Dawn half shrugged. 'Well not so much me, but Buffy has. She came back. Twice.'

He had that same expression on his face. It was unreadable, old and mysterious. 'Come back or brought back?'

'Huh?'

'Witchcraft. Magic. Did someone cast a spell to bring her back, or did she just get better?' He asked and Dawn was reminded of when they first met. The wiggins he'd given her, only this time it was a thousand times more intense.

She shuddered. 'Oh, magic. The second time.' Dawn casually shrugged as she tried to hide the fact she was desperately searching for somewhere to run to. 'The first time was CPR.' Then a thought came to her. 'How did you do it with me? Is it like an Immortal trick, bringing people back? If, you know, they're not really just kinda… Gone?'

Adam chuckled. 'What happened was nothing to do with me. You really were dead, no half measures You came back. That's how it works.'

'But magic, right?' Dawn asked desperately.

Adam shook his head

'Oh… Crap.' Dawn swore under her breath. The only thing that kept her from running in the opposite direction from him was that, thankfully, even though it was still early the streets weren't empty. There were enough people to make a scene if she needed to. 'So you really think I'm like you?'

'I can prove it.' He told her, a smug smile on his face.

'How?' She asked. 'Because I'm not looking forward to a demonstration.'

His smile became even more smug. 'You've had a headache, ever since you woke up. It's like feedback on an old speaker stack, right behind your eyes. It comes in waves and you've never felt anything like it before.'

Dawn looked at him in shock. He was right, she'd almost missed it with everything that was going on, but it was exactly like he described. 'How…?'

'I've got the same. Sort of.' He explained. 'We call it the Quickening. The energy that makes you and me Immortal. It reacts when another of our kind comes in range. Think of it as an early warning. You feel that, you know someone is nearby.'

'Right.' Dawn took that onboard. 'Not exactly proof though.'

'You have another explanation?'

'You kidnapped me, drugged me with something and now you're trying to convince me of this whole thing.' She suggested.

Adam nodded for a moment before it was his turn to ask; 'Why?'

'I don't know, but if I was Immortal why didn't you just chop my head off?' She challenged. 'That's what you guys do isn't it? Chop each others heads off until there's only one of you left. Or are you just taking me somewhere out of the way before making with the whole sword thing.'

He laughed, easily. 'It doesn't work like that. We have rules Dawn. A big one is if you find another, you train them. Teach them our ways.'

'Then you cut their head off?'

Adam stared back at her. Telling her exactly what he thought of that idea.

Dawn looked at him carefully. 'So wait, you want to train me? If I am an Immortal that is.'

'I can guarantee you are.' He stopped and pointed across the road. It was the Hotel Dawn was living at.

'So you just walked me home. I hope you don't expect me to invite you in.'

'To be honest I don't think that's a good idea.' Adam stuck his hand in his pocket and came out with a piece of paper. 'My phone number. Take some time to come to terms. Talk it out with someone you trust and then call me. Tell me what you decide.'

'If I say thanks but no, what happens then?'

Adam shrugged, 'I'll leave you alone. If someone else offers to train you you'll have to make up your mind again. If a headhunter comes looking, then that's your problem. Not mine.'

Dawn bit her bottom lip and took the paper. If nothing else it was a way to track him down. As soon as she toucher the paper, however, he grabbed her wrist. Sharply.

She tried to pull back, but he was a lot stronger and held her firm. Before she could scream he held up three fingers between them. 'But if nothing else remember this. There are three rules you must never break. All fights are one on one, no interference allowed. Especially not from mortals, and that includes Slayers.' He lowered a finger slowly. 'Second, it ends only when you take their head, or them yours. In the end there can be only one. Finally, there is one golden rule no one will dare break. Neither should you.'

'No food after midnight?' Dawn quipped nervously.

Adam let go of her arm. 'That's Gremlins, so no. The golden rule; Never fight on holy ground.'

'Wait, what?' That wasn't what she was expecting. 'Holy ground?'

'Holy ground. A church, mosque, sacred tree. All of it is literally sacrosanct. Not even the most evil of our kind will attack you there.'

'Why not?'

'Trust me, it's better that you do not know.' He smiled grimly and Dawn got the impression he was telling the truth. 'But if I was you I'd also stay away from power stations, large amounts of explosives and anything easily flammable.'

'I like to do that in general.' Dawn admitted.

Adam's smile became a grin. 'Like I said your a smart one. You'll be calling me, until then take your time. After all, it's not like old age is going to be a problem.' With that he left her standing there.

Taking a breath Dawn stood there for moment. The strange headache fading away as he vanished into the gathering crowd. Prodding herself into action she crossed the road and headed inside. Nodding to the person at reception Dawn headed up the stairs.

A few floors later she headed down the corridor to the group of rooms she shared with Buffy and Andrew. Buffy would still be out but Andrew was a different story.

Dawn knocked on his door, but there was no answer. Not until the second time of trying. 'Sorry, it's not a good time.' Came his muffled voice.

"You're telling me!' She shouted at the door. 'Let me in Andrew.'

The door flew open and the nerd gaped at her 'Dawn! You're alive! How? What happened?' He stammered.

'That is a long story.' She said. Holding the scrap of paper with the phone number. Before she could say anything more Andrew threw his arms around her and hugged like there was no tomorrow.

End Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2

In Your Blood  
Chapter Two

'So, report. What happened?' The boss asked, impatiently tapping their nails against the very expensive table and leaving little crescent shaped marks that would take the cleaners hours to polish out.

'Still unknown.' the underling facet them admitted after a moment. 'The possession was a success, and they killed the target…'

'Good, good. Then everything is going according to plan?' The boss practically purred.

Another pause. This one longer. 'No. Somehow the girl survived.'

'Survived?'

'We think so. It's not clear. There was a report of her being killed, then that body went missing and finally we had one of our agents on the ground get a visual on her walking back into her apartment. A bit shaken, but alive. They said.'

The tapping began again. 'Kill them. Kill the one we hired to possess the guard as well. Make sure nothing links back to us. And send in the Magus, I need them as soon as possible.' With that the boss turned away, dismissing the underling, Things never seemed to work out how they were supposed to when it came to manipulating the Slayer.

* * *

It was pretty much the first time everyone had been in the same room since, well since Sunnydale. It wasn't that surprising either, they hadn't needed to hit the emergency button like this. 'So you died, came back and Red here had nothing to do with it.' Faith summed up the situation after they all had gathered.

As soon as Dawn had been killed the call had gone out for them. Xander, Willow, Giles and even Faith turned up within a day. With Kennedy and Robin tagging along too. That made nine people in total crowded into the small hotel room they were living out of these days. 'Yeah, that's about it.' she shrugged.

'So we're thinking this is some wacky Summers thing right?' Kennedy suggested. 'Or what was that I heard about you and a Key?'

'I'm actually thinking I'm Immortal.' Dawn admitted.

Buffy rolled her eyes. 'Because of what that Adam guy said. Who I'm going to kill as soon as I see him, by the way.'

'Immortal? You mean like Buffy's boyfriend?' Xander asked.

'Ex.' Dawn, Andrew and Faith corrected him, at the same time.

Buffy sighed. 'Well he's dead now, so technically Ex.' She admitted.

'Dead doesn't sound very immortal to me.' Robin pointed out.

Giles coughed to get everyone's attention. 'Perhaps we can get back to that later. Right now I think we'd all like to know what happened. Starting with how Dawn, I guess, died.'

He was looking at her, they all were, but all Dawn could do was shrug.

'She doesn't remember. Hell, she doesn't remember most of that day.' Buffy explained.

'Was anyone else there?' Xander asked and very slowly Andrew held his hand up.

'Then start from the beginning.' Giles ordered the junior Watcher.

'W… Well Okay. Urm. As you know Mr Giles the Demonic criminal underworld is a complex and devious culture. One that was thrown into turmoil nearly a year ago now when the Capo Di Famigia's head fell off.' Andrew began.

'We know that bit.' Dawn pointed out when he started to explain it to her as well. 'He's with his family, growing his body back.'

'Growing their body back?' Kennedy blinked 'What?'

'Well they're a demon. Head falls off, body grow back, but it takes a while. A few years and there's a power vacuum now.' Dawn shrugged. 'That's whats causing a big problem.'

Xander laughed. 'Demons, they keep you guessing.'

Giles cleaned his glasses. 'On topic, Andrew has been keeping me apprised of the situation. I did ask Buffy to do the same.'

'I did mean to.' She mumbled. 'It's just, you know, house hunting and everything.'

'As I understand it from what Dawn and Andrew have told me the Capo's recovery and resurrection prevented a clan war from erupting right there and then. However, tensions continue to rise between the Clan heads. The presence of the Slayer in the city hasn't helped either.' The Head Watcher finished.

'Not my fault.' Buffy muttered again.

Dawn picked up the story for those like Xander and Willow that didn't know what had been happening. 'It's all sort of Cold War right now. Manoeuvring of one clan, or another. They're all trying to get the upper hand, but no one's in a position strong enough to pull the trigger. Not yet. But it doesn't look good and whatever happens you can bet people are going to die. The Immortal was a player in this whole thing. Nothing happened in Rome with out his say so. He arranged a sort of treaty thing where we promised not to get involved and it calmed things down a bit.'

'The plan was to keep them playing off each other. Like Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon.' Andrew explained. 'The idea was to keep it like that until the Capo came back and retook his rightful place.'

'But then The Immortal died.' Buffy told them. 'We've kept with the agreement treaty thing, 'cause I don't want to be the one who sets this whole mess off.'

'But with the Immortal dead they don't really trust us.' Dawn pointed out. 'We think he convinced them he had Buffy under his control or something.' Her sister glared at her but Dawn ignored it. Since his death Dawn had come to see The Immortal for what he was. Slick, sleazy and manipulative. Buffy, on the other hand, wasn't willing to admit it

'So we received word from the heads of the main Demon clans that we were to meet with them.' Andrew started again, completely missing the tension. That or he finally knew enough to change the subject. 'Buffy wanted to come in person, but they didn't like the idea. Fearing that our valiant Slayer General would use the opportunity to strike at all of them at once. Negotiations were hard, but eventually they agreed to meet with just me and Dawn.

'With the understanding that I would kill them all if something happened.' Buffy growled.

'So they broke their word. That mean we're going to have rampage later Bee?' Faith asked with a dangerous gleam in her eye. 'My schedule is free.'

'Not just yet, but keep it in mind.' Buffy agreed. 'Because that's not exactly what happened.'

'Well what did happen?' Xander asked and Dawn looked to Andrew. 'Without the drama. Please.'

'This is the bit I don't remember.' Dawn admitted.

Andrew winced. 'We met with the Family heads. The ones that run the Clans. We were convincing them that we were good for keeping out of the way, as long as they didn't start killing humans. No one had a problem with that when one of their bodyguards went crazy. He went straight for Dawn. The boss was screaming at him to stop, but the guard killed him first.'

'So obviously the demon was, what, under a spell? Somebody controlling him?' Kennedy asked.

'We think he was bribed.' Andrew said.

Buffy folded her arms. 'I'm not buying it, well not entirely, but they're all terrified now of what I'm going to do and trying to find out who the guard was really working for. When we find out who it was I'm going to rip their lungs out.'

'Assuming they have lungs.' Willow pointed out

'We've told them that I wasn't killed. That I was just hurt and that I'm recovering.' Dawn told them. 'Which is kinda true.'

Giles stood up, he walked back and forth. 'I am uncomfortable with treaties and alliances between ourselves and demons. That said I agree that it is for the best. For now. We have more important things to deal with, namely Dawn's miraculous recovery. What were her injuries?'

Andrew swallowed, looking very green all of a sudden. Dawn could see he didn't want to say. 'My neck. The demon broke my neck.' she told them.

'You remember that?' her sister asked hopefully.

Dawn shook her head. 'Nope, not a thing. It's what you said though.' She explained. 'I sort of remember agreeing to go to the meeting. You weren't happy about it Buffy, but I promised to be careful. And that's it.'

'I don't know about you, but I'd remember how I died.' Kennedy said.

Buffy shrugged. 'I only kinda remember dying. I mean I remember it. Everything before and leading up to it. It's just the whole dead part that's tricky. Not like Dawn with the whole amnesia thing.'

'Post traumatic shock.' Willow spoke up and then at the strange looks she smiled. 'Two years psych major people. Unlike Buffy I paid attention in class.'

'I did pay attention!' Buffy protested.

'When you were awake.' Willow shot back and Dawn laughed.

'What, I'm the crazy one with the magic healing neck.' She pointed out when everyone stared at her.

Willow rolled her eyes. 'You're not crazy Dawn.'

'I don't know sweetie. Forgetting like a whole day. Sounds kinda crazy to me.' Kennedy admitted.

It was Giles that spoke in her defence. 'I'm not an expert, but baring any other options Willow has the training. No matter how limited. I think we should hear her theory.'

Dawn shrugged, 'Sounds good.'

'Right, well, no expert here either, but okay.' Willow nodded to herself and sat up. 'Well basically traumatic shock can manifest in a number of ways. Neck being broken sounds very traumatic. To protect herself from what happened Dawn's mind just closed down on it.'

'So what, the memories are there, she just doesn't want to remember them?' Buffy suggested.

'She might, one day. It's just too fresh at the moment.'

'Yay!' Dawn said with false cheer. 'I get to remember how I died. Whoo! Now we just have to figure out why I'm not still dead.'

'Are we sure you were?' Xander asked standing up and heading for the fridge. 'Dead. You weren't just nocked out or something.'

'Oh, I was dead.' Dawn told them, remembering that nothing she was trapped in before waking up in the Morgue. She couldn't hide the shudder she felt.

'We've got the coroners report.' Buffy admitted. 'Her neck was really broken.'

Andrew nodded. 'I heard it.'

'So did I' Dawn rubbed the back of her neck.

That got a few looks. 'You said you didn't remember…'

'Not it breaking, it going back.' Dawn felt a little sick and thankfully Xander handed her a bottle of water.

As she gulped some down Andrew asked the obvious question. 'So how is she back?'

Buffy frowned. 'I thought we cleared that up. Like Kennedy said it's a weird Summers thing. The whole spell Key human bit.'

'Which makes me Immortal then.' Dawn suggested wiping her mouth.

'I guess.' Buffy started unsure, before realising what she was saying. 'Not like that! Dawn! There is no way you're one of those guys! You just, you know, didn't die. One time. Or Un-died. Whatever.'

'Isn't that what being immortal means.' Dawn suggested. Not liking the idea anymore than she did.

Buffy shook her head. 'There's immortal and then there's Immortal Dawn. We don't know anything about them.'

'We know some things, more now your boyfriend isn't distracting us from research.' Dawn snarked.

Giles held up a hand, stopping their imminent fight. 'A coroners report? The authorities were involved?'

Buffy and Dawn shared a wince. 'Andrew panicked, so I got the full treatment.'

'I was called into the police station when they told me. First that my sister was dead, then that they lost the body. Then this morning I got a telegram. Apparently there was a mix up and Dawn got herself cremated. I'm suppose to pick up the ashes sometime this week.'

Dawn waved. 'So yeah, we're cool. I just have to keep my head down, and you know on my shoulders for a little while and everything's cool.' She rolled her eyes. 'I'm going to have nightmares about burning alive. I just know it.'

'So they what, have a body go missing and rather than just lose the paperwork they cremate something and cover ti all up?' Xander asked. 'Just goes to show Sunnydale PD never had a good idea.'

'But that doesn't answer the question, how is Dawn still alive. Or back.' Robin pointed out. 'You keep mentioning something about an Immortal. Who, or what, exactly was he?'

'We… Don't know.' Buffy admitted

'Well he was your boyfriend so law of averages.' Willow shrugged.

'Demon.' Xander, Faith and Kennedy chorused.

Dawn rolled her eyes. 'They're not demons. I don't think so at least. They just don't die. Well unless you cut off their heads.'

'So they don't grow back?' Xander asked

That wasn't what Dawn was expecting, and hadn't actually thought of that. 'Urm, Giles?'

The Watcher pulled of his glasses and polished them. 'Yes well, to answer your question no. Once beheaded these particular creatures are incapable of recovering. Although I did come across some reports of limbs being reattached.' Putting his glasses back on Giles launched into lecture mode.

'Shortly after the Immortal's death Dawn sent me her early research.' He explained. 'At first it appeared she had stumbled upon a new species of demon. At least new to me. It turns out she, in point of fact, re-discovered the first.'

'I'm confused.' Dawn admitted and could see she wasn't the only one.

'Since becoming the de-facto head of the Council I've had access to information. Information considered too… Sensitive to share. Even amongst the Watchers. It appears that the Council did not begin as we believed and its original goals were quite different. Thousands of years ago a mortal man witnessed the ritual combat between two of these Immortals. He proceeded to become friends with the victor and learnt much about them and their ways.

'The man's name was Ammaletu the Akkadan. He chose to keep the secret from the world, but in doing so founded the original Watchers. With the goal of recording all that could be known about these creatures.'

'When was this?' Robin asked.

'I believe it was around four thousand years ago.' Giles told them, uncomfortably.

'So what happened?'

If anything he looked even less comfortable. 'From the reports I've found the Watchers began recording everything they could. Producing a secret history of the world most people don't even know exists. While it all started with the Immortals it didn't stop there. Soon they were investigating and collecting arcane knowledge from across the globe.'

'Cool.'

'Yes Andrew, cool. Anyway, moving on.' Giles continued. 'As they learnt more about Demons and the forces of darkness there was a divide in the Watcher ranks. To become a Watcher you were required to take an oath to never interfere. To watch and record only. The more progressive of the two groups believed that was a mistake. That for the good of humanity they had to fight the Darkness encroaching on them. The more conservative members believed that it wasn't their fight and that their oath was more important.

'Eventually the two groups split. The conservatives choosing to focus only on the Immortals and what they called The Game. Taking up the the name of the Society of Watchers while the Progressives began finding ways to fight. Eventually meeting the Slayer and dedicating their lives to her destiny. They took up the title Watchers Council. In the end all contact was severed between the two groups more than a thousand years ago.'

'The secret history of the Watchers.' Willow nodded taking it all in.

Buffy didn't look happy. 'So Travers and that lot, they were the progressives? How backwards are these other guys. I mean, have they even heard of fire?' That got a few chuckles.

Dawn though had a concern. 'Yeah, great. Let's hear it for the Watchers. What about the others? The Immortals? I'm more interested in them. Surprisingly.'

Giles winced. 'I'm sure you can understand, I've not had very long to research this and the possibility of a whole branch of Watchers hidden from the world was just too enticing.'

'Yeah, I get that, but this whole Game and ritual Challenge thing is important to.' Dawn pointed out. 'I don't want some stranger with a sword to come out of nowhere trying to kill me because they think my head some kind of trophy.'

'Dawn, Slayer big sis here. I'll handle it.' Buffy offered.

Dawn rolled her eyes again. 'So every time I go out I need you to come with me? That's not going to work.'

'More importantly, if Dawn is Immortal, one of these people or otherwise, she's going to be around for a while. I hate to say this Buffy, you might not be.' Robin told her carefully.

'So what, I teach Dawn how to use a sword?' Buffy shrugged. 'Shouldn't be too hard. She already knows which end to hold.'

Dawn shook her head. Buffy was a great fighter, but most of that was instinct. She really sucked when it came to being a teacher.

'I don't get it.' Xander admitted. 'There are these people, out there somewhere, that live forever and all they do is cut each others heads off? Anyone else confused by that?'

'Wasn't there something about a ritual challenge and a Game?' Willow asked.

This was where things got a little tricky and seeming Giles had gone down the wrong path that left Dawn trying to explain what little she already knew. 'They call it a Game. The chopping each others heads off. There's supposed to be all these rules and things involved, but basically the idea is they kill each other for a Prize.' She suddenly remembered the words of Adam. She'd come across them before in her research as well but now, talking about it, it made sense. 'In the end, there can be only one.'

Dawn gave herself the chills and could tell from the looks she was getting just about everyone had the same feeling. 'Only one. Only one what? Immortal?' Buffy frowned

She nodded.

'So what's this Prize?' Willow asked after a moment of silence.

Dawn spread her hands. 'Don't know. I've tried finding out, but what I've found is all really vague about it. I don't even think they know. I was hoping Giles would have found something by now.'

'Honestly, there's very little I could find that you haven't.' He told her. 'Since splitting from our Council their organisation has been incredibly secretive. I haven't been able to find very much, even with my resources. Of course that's not saying very much. We still haven't fully recovered from the First's attacks.'

'We could always ask one of them.' Faith suggested. 'Track one of these guys down, beat the crap out of them until they spill.'

'An Immortal, or one of these not-Watchers' Kennedy asked

'Whichever.'

'Because they look identical to humans, and I think some might be human. So killing them's a big no and finding them? Nearly seven billion people on the planet. Good luck.' Dawn pointed out.

'You got a better idea?'

Dawn winced and she knew everyone noticed. 'I… I've got a phone number.' She admitted. 'For Adam.'

'Adam?' Buffy jumped to her feet. 'The Adam that kidnapped you Adam? The one that blew up our apartment killing my boyfriend Adam? The one guy I've been trying to find god only knows where? That Adam?' She demanded.

'He never left Rome.' Dawn admitted in a small voice. 'He's been here the whole time.'

Buffy's face went purple.

End Chapter Two


	3. Chapter 3

In Your Blood  
Chapter Three

Adam Pearson, otherwise known as Methos, as well as a host of other names over his long life, was sitting back and enjoying a beer. While it wasn't Joe's Blues Bar the beer was cold there wasn't a TV in the corner blaring out sports and someone had wisely unplugged the ancient jukebox and were using it as a table.

He didn't mind sports, just when you've seen the great games at the colosseum watching a one on TV didn't compare. Same for music, sharing a stage with the Stones was great, listing to what passed as pop music from a tinny blown out speaker just didn't do it for him.

That was why Adam found a quiet corner in the quietest bar he could and was currently idly flicking through an old history book. It wasn't entirely right, but the mistakes were good for a chuckle.

Adam had spent a little longer in Rome than he originally planned. From the looks of things he was going to be cooling his heels for some time. He hadn't meant to do any of this.

Aside from the infamous poet come Immortal rockstar Byron Adam hadn't had an apprentice in centuries. Maybe even a thousand years or more. It wasn't that he didn't like apprentices, he'd had many before. But these days they had to be something special to get his attention.

Dawn? Well Dawn had survived years as the sister of a Vampire Slayer without getting dead. She had an attitude on her and kept her head in stressful situations. That meant a lot. Adam had lived long enough to get a good idea of people very quickly and he could already tell Dawn was going to be a handful.

He could just leave her be. Leave it all behind and spend a couple of decades at a monastic retreat. There had to be another Immortal that could train her. After all Duncan was still out there, somewhere, as well as a number of others that avoided headhunters. They could be a lot better at this sort of thing and he was never one for following the rules to the letter.

That said he had a responsibility, a duty and while he would often bend them he would never actually break a rule. Especially if it meant leaving a fellow Immortal untrained and virtually helpless.

There was a kinship shared between Immortals, one that in someways went deeper than the commitment to the Game. The grief, the loss, the persecution, the endless regrets they shared. It meant something. Something mortals could only begin to imagine. Dawn was just stating on that path, but it wouldn't be long before the crushing reality, well, dawned on her.

He would give it a week. If she didn't call him by then he'd check up on her, carefully. After that, Adam decided he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. Reaching for his beer he felt the phone in his pocket lurch.

Not a lot of people had the number and checking the screen came back with caller unknown. While he hadn't programmed it in he did recognise it was coming from a hotel switchboard. The same hotel Dawn and her family were staying in. 'Hello?' He answered.

'Hi Adam. It's Dawn.' She sounded like she was far way from the microphone. Or on a speaker, but he ignored that.

'Dawn, I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. Have you come to a decision?' he asked carefully.

There was a long pause. 'No, not yet.' She said uncertainly. 'I need to know a bit more. About this whole thing. Still not sure I am what you think I am.'

'Well I would ask how else you could be alive, but you deal with things I don't want to think about so…' He shrugged, forgetting she couldn't actually see him.

'I get that and we're looking into that stuff too, but we're sort of curious.'

'About Immortals?' He interrupted her and carefully ignoring the fact that she let slip she wasn't the only one interested. 'Why am I not surprised? Can you convince your sister not to try and kill me?'

Another long pause. 'I can ask her.' It was obvious that the Slayer was listening in and probably wasn't open to the idea of not cutting his head off.

Grinning to himself Adam lent back and was tempted to put his feet up. 'Well if you can keep her homicidal impulses to a minimum I'm sure we can talk. Face to face.'

'Great! That's great!' She said with hollow enthusiasm. 'Where would you like to meet?'

Adam already knew the best place. 'There's an old church just down the street from your hotel, the Santa Prassede. Should be safe enough.'

'I know it. Thought we, you were supposed to avoid churches. Holy ground was dangerous or something?'

He let her slip go as there was nothing he could say. 'No. Quite the opposite really. There is nowhere safer for an Immortal than holy ground.'

'Why?' Someone he didn't recognise asked in a Boston accent.

'Sorry, didn't quite catch that.' Adam smirked.

There was an uncomfortable pause and even without seeing he could easily imagine a group of people desperately waving at each other contradictory instructions. Eventually Dawn came back, her voice taught and brittle with false calm 'When did you want to meet?'

Adam made a show of checking his watch. It was just after three in the afternoon. 'I think sometime this evening would be best. Say around eight. Does that sound easy for you?'

'Eight. yeah, that's good for me.' She still sounded tense and answered a bit to quickly.

Over the millennia Adam had developed a good sense of self-preservation and he could tell this was all moving a little too well. 'Just promise me that you'll hold back your homicidal sister for long enough for me to convince her not to try and kill me.'

'That might take some convincing.' Dawn said lightly. 'But I'll try.'

'Then I'll see you at eight.' With that he hung up and drained his beer.

He had every intention of meeting with Dawn and her family at the appointed time. Only he was going to be a little early that was all.

He already knew the Church, Very well actually. He'd watched it being built centuries ago and while the area had developed and changed over the centuries it remained. If you were an Immortal it helped to know nearby holy ground. It was just good practice. Pulling the battery from his phone he took his glass back to the counter.

Leaving the bar he headed over to the Santa Prassede. With what he knew it wasn't hard to slip in behind the scenes. Adam made his way into the back of the chapel. There, amongst the dead, he opened up his book and began reading again.

* * *

'I still think he'll be a no show.' Faith repeated.

Buffy shrugged. She didn't really disagree, but after Willow's attempt to trace the phone failed this was their next best chance at tracking him down. What was really getting at her was that this guy had been in Rome all this time and Dawn knew it.

He'd blown up their apartment, had them living out of a couple of suitcases, and killed Buffy's boyfriend. She was going to kill him. Immortal or not. Whatever Dawn thought. If this guy was stupid enough to turn up she knew what to do about it.

'So, want to go over the plan again.'

'If we can call it a plan.' Dawn said sarcastically from behind.

Buffy spun on her. 'Don't feed Dawn to the psycho that want's to chop your head off. That's not plan like to you?'

'He won't hurt me.' Dawn protested. 'Like he said, holy ground is safe.'

'Like he said.' Buffy whispered quietly.

Dawn glared but said nothing.

'Well I have looked over some of Dawn's research; There is reference to holy ground being considered safe by their kind. Some sort of divine protection.' Andrew spoke up. 'It was all very vague.'

'Yeah. You know, I wish there was just a big book of everything we needed to know. I mean what has Readers' Digest been doing all these years?' Xander asked, which got a chuckle.

The Church this mysterious Immortal Adam had directed them to was just around the corner. 'Right; Faith, Robin, Xander. You guys swing round. Make sure this guy doesn't try and sneak up on us.' It was all part of the plan they'd hammered out back at the hotel. They were going to patrol the outside and call if they saw something. Buffy, Dawn Willow, Andrew and Giles would wait inside. Dawn wasn't going to leave her side, despite what she said Buffy wasn't going to make the same mistake again and let this guy sneak up behind her.

Inside the church was the usual. Lots of wood, marble and stone. The alter was at the far end, highly decorated, surrounded by paintings and other such stuff. You'd seen one church you'd seen them all.

'Dawn, is something wrong?' Giles asked.

Buffy's little sister was rubbing her forehead. 'Just a headache.' She stopped suddenly and looked up. 'He's already here. I can feel it.'

'Feel it?' Buffy asked looking to Andrew who shrugged. She didn't feel anything either.

'It's the Quickening.' A British voice answered from the behind. The man they were waiting for stepped out from the alter and towards them.

Dawn groaned and half collapsed, holding her head and stomach. Giles caught her as Buffy leapt across the Church. Adam, if that was his real name, was fast enough to dodge out of the way. At first.

It didn't take long for Buffy to catch him though. Quickly grabbing him and pushing the guy against a column. Holding him tight she reached for the sheath behind her back and pressing the knife against his neck before he could say anything. 'Whatever you're doing to her, stop it. Now.'

'It's, it's not something I'm doing.' He croaked out. 'She's not used to the presence of other Immortals yet. She'll be good. Just give her time.'

Buffy could see Dawn was already recovering, if still a little green. 'So I can chop of your head now and all's good.' She smiled at him.

'I can give you two very good arguments why you're wrong there.' He edged away from the blade as best he could.

'And I'm the one with a knife. So bye!'

'Buffy!' Giles snapped. 'At least hear the man out!'

She looked at him again. This guy knew Buffy wanted him dead, but he still came to talk with them. That had to mean something right? Coming to a decision reluctantly Buffy nodded, but didn't move the knife. 'Three minutes, that's all you get. Make them good.' She threatened.

She saw him swallow, nearly nicking his Adam's apple on her dagger. 'Well first of all, Dawn's Immortal now. That means, as much as she might not like it, she's part of the Game. Someone needs to teach her the rules. How to live and how to fight.'

Buffy smirked back. He'd used that line earlier on Dawn and it wasn't going to work on her. 'Well I'm a Slayer, so we've got the fighting thing down. We've also got lots of books, so research isn't going to be a problem. Should pick up the rules in no time. Sorry, have to try better.'

'It's one thing reading about it, it's another actually playing the Game.' He pointed out.

Giles spoke up. 'He has got a point, practical experience is more useful than pure research. Especially in sword fighting.'

'Whose side are you on?' Willow asked.

'As we've discovered we have very little information on his species.' He explained. 'I'd rather not kill our only example. If we can learn more from him alive…' Giles left it hanging. Buffy didn't want to admit he had a point.

'While I'm not looking forward to being a lab rat I can start with my second reason. Which might help.' Adam offered.

'Better make it good, you've only got one minute left.' Buffy told him.

The Immortal grinned, like he knew something she didn't. 'There's a reason I'm safe on holy ground. I didn't blow up your flat. Not deliberately at least.'

'What's that got to do with anything?' Buffy asked, not seeing where he was going.

He shrugged, somehow pulling it off without cutting himself deeper. 'When I took your Boyfriend's head I realised his Quickening. The thing that made him Immortal. The thing Dawn's feeling now. That's what the explosion was. Cut off my head…'

'You'll explode.' Willow put it together, 'But why holy ground?'

'Something about it magnifies the explosion. No ones sure why, but if you take my head Slayer you won't just end up dead yourself. I'm fairly sure you'll wipe Rome off the map.' The man gave her a cocky looking smile.

Buffy looked him square in the face, but couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not. There had been something weird about the explosion at the apartment after all. She remembered the floating debris hovering there just after the explosion. Lighting flashing in the wreckage.

'Buffy…' Andrew said nervously eyeing her blade. Obviously someone was buying the story.

'Like I'm supposed to believe that.' She snapped at the so called Immortal.

'You willing to risk it?' He was almost smirking now. Like he knew he'd already won 'There's a legend; two Immortals in an dual. The fight reached the steps of the Temple of Apollo. In a little town called Pompeii.'

'You almost had me until that part.' Buffy returned the smile. 'Really? Even I know that was a volcano. Not some one cutting off some guys head.'

Giles coughed loudly. 'I think the gentleman is suggesting that the beheading was a catalyst for the volcano.'

That was something she hadn't thought of. Buffy also remembered the amount of times things in Sunnydale were mis-reported or just excuses. If he was telling the truth, could she risk it? He'd been confidant enough to just walk up to her and unless this was a really crazy made up story he was the one to suggest a Church.

Not wanting to risk it Buffy stepped back and lowered her knife, but was still ready for him to run. He didn't. 'So not here. Doesn't mean I can't drag you outside and do it then.' She didn't mean it though. If there was even a chance that a big boom was possible they needed to know more. A lot more.

* * *

Strictly speaking the legend of Pompeii was just that. A legend. There wasn't any evidence for it. At least none that wasn't buried under a volcano. The other slight lie was that the sister killing him would cause a disaster.

A mortal could actually kill him on holy ground, without the world ending. That was how Darius met his end after all. Adam wasn't going to mention that part to the Slayer. Not until he was sure that revealing that inconvenient fact wouldn't end with him dead.

Or she died of old age. One or the other.

'How are you feeling?' He asked Dawn. The brunette sister was a lot steadier on her feet now.

The girl winced. 'Still a bit wobbly.' She admitted. 'What was, what is that?'

'Like I said, the Quickening. It wasn't that bad before because you were still fresh.' He explained. It was also stronger than most because it was his Quickening she was sensing. Another thing he was in no rush to explain.

So you Immortals can feel if another is nearby?' The red haired woman asked. 'Is it some sort of psychic connection, or more mystical?'

Adam looked at her, she had the bering of a witch. Steeped in mysticism and power. 'Neither.' He told her. 'It's similar to two magnets meeting. The fields react to each other and no two are exactly alike.'

'Willow?' the Slayer asked, her knife still clutched in her hand.

The witch didn't take her eyes off of him. 'Just thinking.' She told them. 'He's pretty confidant that Dawn's actually like him and she did have a reaction to his presence.'

'It's probably something he did.' The elder sister protested. 'A spell or something.'

'Why don't we find out?' The Witch suggested. 'If there is a spell or something I can undo it, but if Dawn is somehow one of these people and there is something to sense between them.' She left it hanging.

Adam wasn't happy with that and let it show. 'I don't trust magic. Too much can go wrong.' he pointed out.

'Agreed.' said the Englishman. 'But the gain outweighs the risk in this situation.'

Buffy smiled as if she won something. 'Will, what's the spell involve?'

'Oh it's easy. You've done it! Remember when…' Willow stopped, her mouth open. Glancing at him she obviously reassessed what she was about to say. 'That time, you er… You thought your mother was being hurt by a spell. It's just that.'

Buffy looked wide eyed at that. 'That took all afternoon! What are we supposed to do? Get something to eat?'

'You're a Slayer, I'm a witch. It's a lot easier and I've got the practice.'

She looked a little more convinced, but was still uncertain. 'Didn't I need a load of stinky herbs that took forever to get the smell out?'

'I'm the witch. Don't need them.' She reminded the Slayer again.

Buffy took that on board and finally nodded. 'Do it.'

'Would you mind letting me in on this?' Adam asked, mentally tracing a route through the back of the building to an exit he was fairly sure the Slayer didn't know about, or have covered.

The witch shrugged. 'Nothing much. Meditation, a little chanting. Nothing sacrilegious, or, you know, bad. You won't feel a thing. I promise.' She babbled.

Taking the look he was still getting from the Slayer and the general distrust form the rest of the people in the church Adam decided to agree. 'I have no objections.'

'I'll start with Dawn.' She announced.

'Me?' The new Immortal asked, surprised.

'I know you. If something has changed I'll see it, then I'll know what to look for with Adam.' She said standing next to the girl. 'Give me your hand. You won't feel a thing.'

Dawn shrugged and took the Witch's hand. After a moment the red haired woman set her shoulders and closed her eyes. Adam watched carefully as she slowed her breathing. She was clearing and focusing her mind. He'd seen spell casters and mystics do it often enough to recognise the signs.

After a few minutes of silence. The witch, Willow, opened her eyes and looked at Dawn. 'Oh wow! I can… I can see it. I can see it now!' She beamed a huge smile. 'It's life. Just life. You're overflowing with it Dawnie, it's pouring out of you! You can't contain it. There's just so much! Its beautiful!'

Dawn took a step back and pulled her hand free. Willow shook her head and grinned.

'So, this is a spell right. Something done to her?' Buffy demanded.

She disagreed. 'No, this is something from within. Not without and it's her.' The witch waved her hand at the girl. 'It's like she was this caterpillar and now she's a butterfly.'

'Yes, I've hit puberty. What's that got to do with anything?' The young Immortal snapped, obviously uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Adam chuckled. 'You're right about that.' He smirked. 'Everything changes after your first death.'

'Okay, way too much information.' Buffy said. 'So Will, you're sure this is nothing he could have done.'

'It's Dawn, one hundred percent.' She announced with a certainty.

'That still doesn't tell us she's one of these Immortal things.' The Slayer said stubbornly. 'You know what, it tells me she isn't. Because Dawn is not a demon, so she can't be one of them.'

Adam shook his head. Arguing wouldn't get him anywhere and it appeared there was only one way he could make her believe. He offered his hand to the witch 'Let's do this.'

'Will.' Buffy stepped up with her knife ready.

Willow took his hand and began to meditate again.

End Chapter Three


	4. Chapter 4

In Your Blood  
Chapter Four

Buffy held Willow's hair as she threw up into a street drain. They were lucky that this part of town was quiet at the moment, otherwise this could have been embarrassing. After a few moments Willow stopped and pulled herself together. 'So now do I get to kill him?' She asked her best friend.

'I… I wouldn't even try!' Willow gasped. 'He wasn't lying about that explosion Buffy. Killing him will release so much energy. I don't want to be anywhere near that!'

'So he's basically a shaken bottle of coke. I take of the top and blam we all get soaked?' Buffy put it in her best dumb blonde explanation.

'A volcano of coke.' Willow corrected.

'Right. So, is Dawn like him?' She asked the question she had to. Not liking the answer she knew was coming.

Willow nodded. 'I think so. I mean its a pretty small sample to draw a conclusion from, but yeah. Only he's like a million times more.'

Buffy's mind was spinning from this idea. 'We best get back inside.' She said after a moment. Willow nodded her agreement and the two of them got back into the church.

Faith, Xander and Robin had made it inside after Andrew had, surprisingly making himself useful for a change, dashed out to tell them what was happening. Right now the Adam guy was surrounded by the fighters in their group, all of them armed and looking far a reason to end him.

He was putting on a good show of not caring, but Buffy could tell he was nervous. Who wouldn't be. One wrong move and, if he was telling the truth and he wasn't tricking Willow somehow, he'd explode. 'It's alright guys, put them down.'

'Bee?' Faith asked, her sword dangerously close to the man's neck.

Buffy kept her eyes on him. 'He's not going anywhere, are you?'

'Not just yet.' He shrugged pretending not to notice Faith was the only one not stepping back. Eventually she did, but when he tried to put his hands in his pockets she raised the sword again.

Making some show of keeping his hands in sight Adam, if that was his name, looked at Willow. 'You alright now?' he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Willow nodded. 'I wasn't ready. I never thought you'd be that powerful. What are you?'

'Old.' he told her cryptically.

'So Willow's convinced.' Buffy jumped in, trying to steer the conversation. 'I'm still not, but I promise you if you think you can just chop off my sister's head you've got another thing coming buster.'

'I already told you that's not what I'm here for. Dawn needs to be taught, I'm the only one that can do it.' He explained again patiently. Buffy recognised it as the same sort of voice Giles had when he was trying to explain something. It got on her nerves, treating her like she was still a high schooler.

'I'm sure there are others.' She pointed out. Not that she'd trust them, just a lot more than this guy.

'Oh, there are a few. Not as many as you might think, but some.' He said with a lazy shrug, 'But you can't guarantee they won't try to take her head the first chance they get.'

She narrowed her eyes at him. 'And what guarantee do we have you won't?'

'The only one I can give you. I promise, I swear to you, I have no intention of hurting her.' He actually managed to sound sincere. Even though he was surrounded by swords and people ready to use them.

'Why not?' Xander asked. 'Why do you people go around cutting each others heads off anyway? Is it a cultural thing or something?'

The supposed Immortal sighed. 'It's the Game. We've played it since time began. In the end there can be only one.'

'You said that before.' Dawn chipped in. 'What does it mean? Only one?'

Adam pulled himself up and looked Buffy's sister dead in the face, Buffy recognised the expression as almost same on Giles had when describing something world ending-ly bad was about to happen. 'We play the Game, until the time of the Gathering. When only a handful remain we will be summoned to a distant land. Once there the last of us will compete for The Prize. In the end there can be only one.'

Ignoring the shiver down her spine Buffy spoke up, diverting his attention. 'What is that, some kind of prophecy?'

He nodded. 'Perhaps the oldest, maybe the first.'

Giles coughed uncomfortably. 'Maybe you could be a little more detailed. What exactly is this Prize, what does it entail?'

Adam sighed again and stepped over to the pulpit in the corner. Buffy's fiends surrounding him moved too. Keeping the same distance. He didn't exactly climb up to the pulpit, but did lean against the side. 'We don't really know. It's sort of a mystery.'

'So you can live forever, but instead you kill each other and you don't even know why?' Robin asked.

'I told you why, for the Prize. It's just different Immortals have different ideas what that is. Here's what we know for certain. When an Immortal takes another's head we take their power. The lightning and fireworks is just a side effect, the real energy is absorbed within us. Now that doesn't sound like a lot at first, but if you think about it for a moment that's where the trouble begins.'

He folded his arms, all the while leaning against the pulpit. 'Say there's a thousand Immortals, there's probably more, but you get the idea. A thousand Immortals, each of them live a hundred years. Doesn't sound a lot, but then one of them takes the other's heads. Instead of having a thousand hundred years you've got one hundred thousand years concentrated down into one person.'

There was a clatter as Giles dropped his glasses. 'Good lord!' The Watcher gasped. 'You can't be serious!'

'What?' Buffy and a few of the others asked over the top of each other.

Willow thought had gone pale and looked like she was about to throw up again. 'By the Goddess! A hundred thousand years of life energy. Is that what I felt from you?'

'Probably more.' He admitted lazily. 'Some Immortals have lived for hundreds, even thousands, of years all by themselves. Taking heads over the eons. Each time growing stronger and stronger. We have lived amongst you since the beginning after all. Immortals have seen the rise and fall of empires, spoken languages long forgotten by all but them. We are a living link back into history, all the way back to the dawn, no pun intended, of mankind itself.'

Buffy stood there, stunned, but he hadn't finished yet. Adam looked at all of them and Buffy could almost feel the weight of all those years he'd talked about. No wonder Willow vomited. 'That's the world Dawn is part of. That is the legacy she must accept and why someone has to teach her how to survive it.'

Dawn raised a hand. 'I have a question; we're talking God here right? When this is all done one of us, one of you, will be a God.'

'At the very least.' Giles agreed.

'Right, so are we talking good God or bad God. I mean I don't know what I'd be.' she admitted

Adam laughed, Buffy didn't think it was that funny but he must have. Standing straight he opened his arms wide. 'That's the Game!' He grinned at all of them. 'If an Immortal who's heart is good and true wins the Prize humanity will know paradise. A never-ending golden age. Otherwise, well just like mortals along the same lines as Ghengis Khan, Caligula and Stalin, we've got our own share of bad influences and they wouldn't be as nice as those those three. An evil immortal with the Prize would make the worst of mortal kind look like a child in comparison with virtually unlimited power.'

There was a long silence as they all looked at each other

'I don't think I want to play this game.' Dawn admitted in a quiet voice.

'I'm afraid you don't have much choice.'

* * *

The mortals began babbling amongst themselves. Trying to convince each other that Adam was either lying or exaggerating. The Witch and the Englishman with the air of a Watcher were the most accepting. The others were in denial, but Dawn was terrified. She could sense the truth in his words.

He couldn't blame her. Adam wasn't pulling his punches here. The Slayer was incredibly stubborn, but obviously loved her sister and he couldn't fault her for that. Same for Dawn, which was why he was doing it this way.

Not for the first time Adam was wondering why he hadn't just left already, and not for the first time he cursed Duncan's influence on him. Before meeting the overly moral Highlander he would have never tried to get between a Slayer and her family for anything as prosaic as the right thing.

'Which side are you?' The boy with an eyepatch asked seriously. On the surface he was the least threatening of all the mortals, which made Adam the most nervous. He may appear average, but to keep up with a Vampire Slayer and only have one eye told him there was a hidden strength there.

It was also a difficult question to answer. 'Let's just say I'm in the middle.' He replied carefully. 'I'm no saint, but my wild youth is behind me.'

'What he means is if you win this Prize who's side are you on?' The muscular African-American asked.

Again that was a tricky question, but rather than come up with a lie that he'd have to remember and probably get caught up on later he decided to stick with the truth. 'It won't happen. I won't win. I'm not interested in that. I just want to the Game to continue.'

'You want to keep cutting peoples heads off?' Dawn asked, shocked.

'No, that's not what I mean.' He jumped in, realising he'd made a mistake but it was too late now. 'I don't want anyone to win the Prize. I want life to continue. I have no illusions, one day, probably soon, it's all going to happen. Until then I just want to make the most of the life I've got. However, long that is.'

'And how does training Dawn help that?' The blonde sister asked, she was still hostile, but he could tell he was making some progress.

Adam shrugged. 'The more trained Immortals out there the longer it will be. We don't all have to fight. Not all the time. I have friends that are Immortal, like me, who I can trust. Who can, and I hope do, trust me. One more friend won't hurt.'

It seemed to be the right thing to say, but Buffy picked up on something he'd almost forgotten. 'If you just want to be friends, why did you kill my boyfriend?'

Adam couldn't hide his sudden anger as he half growled. 'He got what he deserved.' It was amazing, even to him, that after all theses years he could still get this angry at the mention of what had happened.

'He deserved to die? So it wasn't part of your Game?'

He turned to Dawn 'Didn't you tell her about that file I gave you?' he asked.

She couldn't hide her expression. 'I, I… No. I read it first and it… I didn't know what to do.' Dawn stumbled with an explanation.

'File, what's he talking about.'

'It's kinda why I didn't tell you about it. I was trying to work out how.' Dawn explained uncomfortably as all eyes were on her. Adam, having just been in the same interrogation decided to help.

'I realised after using Dawn to distract you that she was a Pre-Immortal. From what she said then kidnapping was nothing new to her. Being the sister of a Slayer is a high risk life, shall we say. I realised it was only a matter of time before she was killed so I stuck around. I gave her a file on you're Immortal. Or as I knew him Agostnio. Not everything, just a few things I'd been able to confirm over the years. Including what he did to my Leanna.'

'Your Leanna?' Echoed the Witch.

Adam let the memories come back to him. After all this time it still hurt, even if dulled by the years. 'It was the eighteen hundreds, early eighteen hundreds. I was living in Paris, working as a Doctor.' He swallowed. 'I found her in a back street. Her mother had died during the birth. Squatting in the alleyway amongst the rats and the filth. She was more than likely a prostitute. Unable to afford even the most basic treatment. God only knows how long she'd been sat there in the dry blood. Screaming as the gentry passed them by.'

He could remember it as if it was yesterday, the smells were the worst. Coming to him unbidden as the cries still filled his ears. When Immortals remembered traumatic times it was always crystal clear. One of life's little mysteries. 'Maybe because I'd spent so many years alone. Or because there was something about that defiance in the face of certain death. It could just have been because I felt sorry for the baby. Whatever the reason I took her. With no Father to speak of if I hadn't she'd have died there.'

'I could have just left her at a workhouse. After a few years she'd either be a cut purse, or end up like her mother. You could never start too young in those days.' Adam saw the reaction that dark truth brought. 'Please, do you think I'm that heartless?' He asked before picking up again. 'I adopted her. Wasn't difficult, I was rich after all and back then very few people asked questions. At least at first. It wasn't easy for her and while my reputation did take a blow she was always known as the whore's child. Leanna had very few friends growing up. I taught her myself. She was a gifted student. Smart, but a social pariah. You can probably guess how outcast she was. Eventually we moved on, first to Germany. The city of Dresden, where she became interested in art. Sculpture was her passion. We then moved here. No finer sculptures in the world. Oh Leanna loved Rome.' Adam grinned, remembering how excited she was.

'That's when we met Agostnio. All charm and slime. I didn't really trust him, but he didn't seem interested in challenging me so I reasoned live and let live. Instead of fighting me he started courting Leanna. I took the role of a protective father, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he broke her heart. Eventually we all move on. It's a hard lesson, but an important one.' Adam could tell that he had them on the edges of their seats, at least metaphorically, but they hadn't missed his latest slip up.

He didn't give them a chance to question him on it. 'It wasn't much later, after I first heard they were enjoying each others company, that Agostnio came to my door in the middle of the night. Practically knocked it down. He'd been attacked by a group of thugs, or so he said. Told me they left him for dead and took my daughter. He was very good at blaming himself, but he had an idea where we could find them. I was so angry and desperate I fell for his trap. Agostnio had given Leanna to a particularly nasty clan of demons he had contact with. Luring me down to their lair they were to soften me up before he took my head. Their payment, my daughter. To do with as they pleased.'

Adam fought to keep what he saw that night buried. 'Needless to say I was very angry and while unpleasant the demon clan was not very skilled. Agostnio saw which way the wind was blowing and fled. I was so busy slaughtering the clan I didn't notice. By the time I was finished and put it all together my good friend had fled. I next saw him years later, with you. You know the rest.'

'I don't believe you.' The blonde sister protested.

'And you'll be amazed how little I care about what you believe. It's the truth.' Adam snapped before turning away and taking a moment to compose himself.

* * *

Dawn was glad she skipped the mascara and wiped the tears from her eyes. It was one thing to read about it. It was another to hear his pain first hand. Adam's voice cracked several times as he tried to be factual. 'I don't believe you.' Buffy repeated to his back. 'Hey, look at me, look at me when I'm talking to you! I said I don't believe you.'

'He's telling the truth Buffy.' Dawn said quietly. 'At least I think he is.'

'What do you mean? The truth?' Her sister snapped. 'You knew the Immortal, could he do that?'

'Did we know him?' Dawn shot back. 'We didn't even know his name. It was all secrets and mystery with him. We never knew where he was coming from.' She took a moment to breathe and remember the research she had done. 'I didn't believe it either, so I did some checking. Eighteen thirty-four. The Slikt-nogh clan, a demon army for hire based here in Rome, was given a girl to sacrifice. Payment for a murder, when instead of a victim came what the books called the Angel of Death. Over the space of a week someone killed pretty much all of them. The few survivors were wiped out by their rivals.'

'You can't prove it was him. Or that it was this guy that did it.' Buffy insisted. 'He could have read up on that. He might have been there, or he's just that good an actor.'

'He gets my nomination for an oscar.' Faith muttered.

Adam faced them again. 'It doesn't matter. I've said my piece. I'll be in town for the rest of the week. After that I'm gone and none of you will ever find me again. Dawn should make up her mind by then. I'll leave you now.'

'Where do you think your going?' Faith asked.

'Home.' he said in a flat voice.

'Faith. Let him go.' Giles told her.

Buffy stared at him. 'You can't be serious. We've got him!'

'What are we going to do with him? Keep him prisoner?' Giles asked

'Killing him would be a really bad idea.' Willow added. 'Not just here. The amount of power I felt. It's big.'

'Besides, he's already gone.' Dawn pointed out. While they'd been arguing Adam had slipped away.

'Follow him!' Buffy ordered, rushing to the back of the Church. Faith and Xander went for the front. 'Crap, there's a back door!' She shouted back into the Church 'Find him!'

End Chapter Four


End file.
